Sunday, March 1, 2015

Road Trip Part 1

When Ryan took this job a few months ago, they mentioned that it could involve a little bit of traveling. Ryan is the client relations manager over all the hospitals in Oregon that use his company's software (which is 100% of the hospitals in Oregon). So when he had the opportunity to visit a couple of hospitals in Portland, we decided to make it into a family road trip and visit a few more all over the state rather than what was initially planned. Ryan's mom, Jeanne, agreed to accompany us on the trip to help out with the girls and so I wouldn't be alone all day while Ryan was working.

Sunday-Day 1: From Sandy to Lakeview, Oregon(8 hours 50 minutes)

With an 18-day trip ahead, we literally crammed into an overly packed rental van and headed for the longest driving stretch of the next 2.5 weeks.

The last time I remember getting carsick was during my first year at girls camp for church. We were driving up a twisty dirt road into an abandoned mountain for the traditional hike.

This time around I blamed it more on the graphic zebra death chapter in the book Life of Pi. And also those twizzlers that Ryan insisted on buying during our first rest stop. But still, even while I tried to focus straight ahead, scolding myself for drinking all my water too quickly, I glanced over at the package of licorice and thought, "hmmm I want just one more".

But I decided to take a break from the nausea and started reading Harry Potter to Ryan as he drove.

We hopped in the hot springs pool as soon as possible once we got to our lodge in Lakeview.

Monday-Day two: From Lakeview to Clamath Falls(1 hour 59 minutes)

As Ryan headed off to his first appointment at Lakeview hospital, Jeanne and I took the girls for another swim. The wind had us all gulping for air and our ears were stinging despite the hot pool water.

We made the short trip to Klamath Falls to visit Ryan's cousin, Angela, and her family. Norah hadn't napped in the car on the drive and Lucy was fighting naps all afternoon. Needless to say, there was a symphony of crying towards the end of the evening.

The girls thought it was be a grand idea to start the day at 5:00am. They each have their own rooms back at home so on the trip, if one wakes, the other does too. We wasted time around the hotel until Ryan was finished with calls so we could get on the road again.

We really took advantage of the swimming pools at each hotel. Norah was ecstatic every single time and Lucy was content squealing with delight 99% of the time.

Remember how they thought it would be a good idea to wake up at 5:00am?

Two hours later, we pulled into our new sleeping quarters and Ryan left for another meeting at a nearby hospital. Jeanne's sister,carol, and her family lived nearby so we got together for dinner and games.

Lucy is a screamer, by the way. Kayleigh's daughter, Camry, wasn't amused by Lucy's excitement/desperation to be friends. She doesn't get out much. ;)

Wednesday-Day 4: From Grants Pass to Bandon(2 hours 45 minutes)

Norah had a tummy ache all night from too much ice cream at dinner the night before, so all morning she kept taking her blanket and laying anywhere that looked comfy.

On our way to Bandon, we stopped at the Wildlife Safari Conservation.

The rest of the visit was a drive-thru. Norah was so excited to see the rhinoceros (and to be out of her carseat).

3 Harry Potter chapters later, we pulled into what would be our home for the next three nights: a little cottage right on the beach.

Thursday-Day 5: Bandon Beach House

A walk to the beach ended up with two soaked, but happy, girls so we spent the rest of the day inside playing with (and losing) dice.

Norah has loved having "Grandma Jeanne" at her disposal. Jeanne brought so many fun toys and games for Norah to choose from.

She especially loves this "I Spy" quilt. She likes to use the pointer hand and find whatever we ask her to look for. I have been really impressed how fast she is at finding each item out of 144.

Ryan, Jeanne and I watched the movie Big Hero 6 that night. It was really cute!

Friday-Day 6: Bandon Beach House

Lucy has been dropping hints all over the place that a new tooth is about to emerge. Night wakings, drool soaked shirts, more dirty diapers than I'm used to, etc. poor girl is always sick at the worst times. It reminds me of one of the only Spongebob episodes I've ever seen. Dirty diapers out the wazoo.

I finally got a little time to sit down and finish reading life of pi for the first time. So in honor of doing so, I wore my tiger shirt (that was actually a too-small Christmas gift for Ryan).

We celebrated our last night in Bandon by eating out at a fish shack. We were surprised to see Norah really shoveling in her food, and even encouraged her since we were sure this window of opportunity was a small one. Greasy fries, corn dog, fruit cup, juice, more greasy fries, topped with ice cream from the creamery.

You can imagine why she was up in the middle of the night vomiting. It takes years of practice to keep down such repulsive food. The rest of us have obviously mastered that skill.

1 comment:

I just read all your posts- in reverse. So fun! Vacations are so much different as a mom, huh? Sometimes I forget still that I'm the one who has to scavage for food for all these humans in the car. Maybe it was different since Ryan's mom was there- I'm just now getting the hang of being in charge on vacations. haha It looks like a fun trip though- minus all the car sickness! Glad you didn't have to use the bags!